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Topic: Life is a Gift-Why am I so Thankful? (Read 11251 times)

Every morning when I wake up I feel so thankful. I look at my son, my family, and I'm so thankful. Life is a gift; that requires a giver,IMO. I've sang this song since I was knee high to a grasshopper and it still touches me every time. Here's the lyrics:

AS the world looks upon meAs I struggle alongThey say I have nothingBut they are so wrongIn my heart I'm rejoicing how I wish they could seeThank you Lord,(God) for your blessings on me

chorus:There's a roof up above me, I've a good place to sleepThere is food on my table and shoes on my feetYou gave me your Love Lord(God), and a fine familyThank you Lord, for your blessings on me

I know I'm not wealthy and these clothes are not newI don't have much money, but Lord I have youTo me that's all that matters, the world may not seeThank you Lord, for your blessings on me end vs. to chorus

Yes when times are good it can be easy to have faith and trust. The challenge in believing in God is to hold that faith tight when life's trials are in your midst. I have tried things both ways and losing faith made things worse not better. I believe God had a hand in bringing me back to where I needed to be, In God's arms. There I can get through anything.

Life is a precious gift, Who's the Giver?

You know when my son was 8-9 years old he was so unappreciative. He would get the coolest toys and wouldn't share with the friends that gave them. He wanted a $70 game and got a $40 game instead. He pitched a big ole fit. He would not take care of his things. This reminds me of the human attitude towards God. IMO, God gave us life and an abundant planet with plenty of food and water; we want more, more, more.. All we had to do was take care of it, be kind to one another and share the resources. We don't share, we fight over land and resources. I think if we had a deeper appreciation of life, it wouldn't be taken for granted so often. Many times our pain is due to another's actions. It's not easy appreciating a life that can sometimes be so hard and challenging. In my life appreciation, forgiveness and trust gets me through those tough times.

Wouldn't it be even more amazing if we happen to be here, now and who we are just by a billion billion to one chance?Knowing that there is no supernatural life assurance policy really makes me appreciate what I have. Even my shit times are better than the void that comes after life.

Every morning when I wake up I feel so thankful. I look at my son, my family, and I'm so thankful.

I take it that, if one morning you don't wake up, you won't be feel thanks.

As a matter of efficiency, wouldn't it be easier just to give one "prayer" in which you thank God in advance for all the mornings you wake up?

Just consider: there are 7 Billion of us on the planet, if everyone of us thanked god each day, that would be 7,000,000,000, prayers a day plus all those prayers from amputees, etc. Now that works out at:

291,700,000 prayers per hour, or4,860,000 per minute, or81,000 per second.

All this causes the angels a hell of a lot of work. No wonder God doesn't have the time to answer important prayers! It's people like you who hog His precious time.

So please, in future, restrict your thanks to important matters.

Quote

Life is a gift; that requires a giver,

Would you care to think that one through?

« Last Edit: May 20, 2013, 07:10:42 AM by Graybeard »

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Nobody says “There are many things that we thought were natural processes, but now know that a god did them.”

Wouldn't it be even more amazing if we happen to be here, now and who we are just by a billion billion to one chance?Knowing that there is no supernatural life assurance policy really makes me appreciate what I have. Even my shit times are better than the void that comes after life.

Something tells me you have an adequate supply of material things. Would you still appreciate life if all you had was food on the table, clothes on your back, roof over your head and shoes on your feet.

I think if we had a deeper appreciation of life, it wouldn't be taken for granted so often.

Well quite. Its knowing that this is the one life we all have that makes me appreciate it, and try not to make it worse for others. By contrast, those for whom this life is a momentary blink on the way to an eternity of wonder tend to be the ones who make this life worse for people. Belief in an eternal wonderful afterlife can do little other than render this earthly existence seem ephemeral and beneath regard by comparison.

Why take care of your toys, when you know that they will soon be taken away and replaced with toys that are indescribably better? You're right, it is a good analogy for people and this earth - though it tends to be the most ardent believers who are least appreciative of the here and now.

explain why "god" helped you through whatever you were going through, but throws these kids to the wayside?

and him helping you didnt violate your freewill?

I believe God does help those precious children spiritually. Humans with kind hearts physically help those babies. Greedy people take advantage of them.

God doesn't pull puppeteer strings. It was my trust in God that helped me. Trying to understand that whatever happens in my life will be Okay because God will spiritually not physically see me through. It's the power of the philosophy I've learned on my path to God, but mostly it comes from TRUSTING GOD.

If you're willing it's not a violation of free will but the answer to a prayer.

Is it possible for the parents to grow gardens where these children live? If not, maybe they should be relocated!!! Are there grocery stores? We could give them EBT cards.

Yes I believe those children are surrounded by Angels. I can't see them but I BELIEVE they are there. Just as I believe they are there for all of us. Not to control us but to comfort us if you are WILLING.

Is it possible for the parents to grow gardens where these children live? If not, maybe they should be relocated!!! Are there grocery stores? We could give them EBT cards.

Yes I believe those children are surrounded by Angels. I can't see them but I BELIEVE they are there. Just as I believe they are there for all of us. Not to control us but to comfort us if you are WILLING.

Junebug, doesn't it ever occur to you, in reading all the responses, that maybe there is an element of personality, and just the way individual people are wired, to the whole matter of belief?

You are the type of person for whom faith in something bigger is sustaining; you find comfort and meaning through it, therefore you naturally look for, and, as a result, find those things which support that belief. It is what works for you.

Similarly, you must see that there are many people here who have no need for those things, and, indeed, find their lives more meaningful without the element of faith. Some who were not indoctrinated, thus never missed it, and others who found, upon shedding it, that their lives were enriched, and that they were not less but more likely to put effort into making the lives of those aroud them better. It is what works for them.

What, then, makes the type of person wired for faith inherently better than one wired to see life as even more amazing and precious without that element?

And also, given that there is an element of this natural "wiring" of the brain which basically predestines some people toward belief, is there not some chance that this faith has an element of delusion?

I would agree, by the way, that if this works one way, it should also work the other, and that those who are more susceptible to not believing in god could be the delusional ones, except that this view would mean that god created those people without the "belief gene", which really does seem like kind of an unfair thing for a supreme being to do.

It seems like you expression "trusting God" means trusting in your own strength, and hoping things will get better.

No matter what happens, there is always some kind of spin you can put on it, to figure that God had something to do with it.

I have a friend who believes in homoeopathy. She remarked that she got a rash on her face, when she went to Thailand (or someplace), and then she said that "If only she had remembered to take Rescue Remedy with her on the trip, it would have been all gone." Now, of course, it's a placebo, so she could have willed away the rash by being calm. So, her faith in Rescue Remedy has both created something which is above her, and also stolen from her, the knowledge that the power would have been within her.

Credit whom you will, but it seems to me that your parents are solely responsible for you being here.

My parents aren't responsible for them being here or human existence. They were thankful to God as well for their lives.

So I see we can add biology to the list of things you don't understand. Got it.

Be very clear - I'm not asking anything that implies that you are not welcome to post here to your little heart's content, but I'm a little confusedJunebug; why are you still posting here? There are hundreds of places online where you and your SPAG would be welcome additions and you would find the acceptance of your ideas that you are seeking. You've repeatedly stated that you are finished with us, yet here you are again. You think we're mean, and closed-minded, insulting and unkind to you and others like you - so what's the appeal?

I'm trying to decide how seriously to take you given all that and assuming that this post isn't a random incidence and that you intend to remain an active member. If you are just looking for an argument, you would do well to step up your game - this one is too much like kicking a puppy. The lens through which you view the world is very small indeed.

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"Tell people that there's an invisible man in the sky that created the entire universe and the majority believe you. Tell them the paint is wet, and they have to touch it to be sure." ~George Carlin

I think if we had a deeper appreciation of life, it wouldn't be taken for granted so often.

Well quite. Its knowing that this is the one life we all have that makes me appreciate it, and try not to make it worse for others. By contrast, those for whom this life is a momentary blink on the way to an eternity of wonder tend to be the ones who make this life worse for people. Belief in an eternal wonderful afterlife can do little other than render this earthly existence seem ephemeral and beneath regard by comparison.

Why take care of your toys, when you know that they will soon be taken away and replaced with toys that are indescribably better? You're right, it is a good analogy for people and this earth - though it tends to be the most ardent believers who are least appreciative of the here and now.

Very, Very good point. I think it's because it's so easy to turn from God with anger when times are hard, understandably so.

I think if we had a deeper appreciation of life, it wouldn't be taken for granted so often.

<nitpicking>Then stop telling everyone that life is a gift from some willful, sentient being. People will tend to assume that a gift is granted to them. If it were not granted, it would cease to be a gift and turn into a transaction.</nitpicking>

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"When we landed on the moon, that was the point where god should have come up and said 'hello'. Because if you invent some creatures, put them on the blue one and they make it to the grey one, you f**king turn up and say 'well done'."

I think it's because it's so easy to turn from God with anger when times are hard, understandably so.

Except that's not what usually happens - the opposite is actually the case much more often. The greater the stress, the more likely the believer is to "rely on God". You're making things up again - what you think is not to be confused with actual facts.

And despite all the discussion you've participated in here, you're still making the typical theist assumption of mistaking our lack of belief in the deity you believe in, for anger at the same deity. Ridiculous, dear Junebug, utterly ridiculous. Have you ever been mad at a unicorn, or a leprechaun? None of us are mad at your god either, because we don't think he exists. Or any others, along with their mythical cohorts for that matter; we don't believe in Allah, Thor, Loki, Aphrodite, Medusa, or the Minotaur. No Persephone, no Hades, no Zeus, no Athena. The list of gods we disbelieve in is a long one, and all-inclusive. Yours is at the top of the list.

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"Tell people that there's an invisible man in the sky that created the entire universe and the majority believe you. Tell them the paint is wet, and they have to touch it to be sure." ~George Carlin

Junebug, doesn't it ever occur to you, in reading all the responses, that maybe there is an element of personality, and just the way individual people are wired, to the whole matter of belief?

You are the type of person for whom faith in something bigger is sustaining; you find comfort and meaning through it, therefore you naturally look for, and, as a result, find those things which support that belief. It is what works for you.

Similarly, you must see that there are many people here who have no need for those things, and, indeed, find their lives more meaningful without the element of faith. Some who were not indoctrinated, thus never missed it, and others who found, upon shedding it, that their lives were enriched, and that they were not less but more likely to put effort into making the lives of those aroud them better. It is what works for them.

What, then, makes the type of person wired for faith inherently better than one wired to see life as even more amazing and precious without that element?

And also, given that there is an element of this natural "wiring" of the brain which basically predestines some people toward belief, is there not some chance that this faith has an element of delusion?

I would agree, by the way, that if this works one way, it should also work the other, and that those who are more susceptible to not believing in god could be the delusional ones, except that this view would mean that god created those people without the "belief gene", which really does seem like kind of an unfair thing for a supreme being to do.

junebug - I was right there with you at one time, even wrote a newspaper article about not just being thankful but thankful to someone...

I got over that.

However, I see what you list as a very personal discussion of thankfulness that turns you to your predisposed deity. Hindus are thankful for the cows wandering the streets but they are personally hungry. Muslims are thankful for the infidels they can blow up... It all sounds like we have made up our own god(s) over time to suit our needs/wants. Some may be thankful for the young child walking home from school unattended

I do think there's a little cruelty in saying those starving have help "spiritually" or from the angels. Having witnessed some unimaginable cruelties towards children, I doubt their bellies felt full from the spirits or some comfort from angels they'd never heard of.

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If xian hell really exists, the stench of the burning billions of us should be a constant, putrid reminder to the handful of heavenward xians how loving their god is. - neopagan

Every morning when I wake up I feel so thankful. I look at my son, my family, and I'm so thankful.

I take it that, if one morning you don't wake up, you won't be feel thanks.

As a matter of efficiency, wouldn't it be easier just to give one "prayer" in which you thank God in advance for all the mornings you wake up?

Just consider: there are 7 Billion of us on the planet, if everyone of us thanked god each day, that would be 7,000,000,000, prayers a day plus all those prayers from amputees, etc. Now that works out at:

291,700,000 prayers per hour, or4,860,000 per minute, or81,000 per second.

All this causes the angels a hell of a lot of work. No wonder God doesn't have the time to answer important prayers! It's people like you who hog His precious time.

So please, in future, restrict your thanks to important matters.

Quote

Life is a gift; that requires a giver,

Would you care to think that one through?

I sure don't see how you got there from here. It saved my life which should carry a little value to you if you care about your fellow man. I could've turned to drugs and alcohol like a lot of people do. Everyone is Important, me included. For you to say otherwise is just callous.

I don't hog prayers I hardly ever pray for myself. I pray more for you than I do me. I did cry out to God when I couldn't take anymore and I got the comfort I needed.

Credit whom you will, but it seems to me that your parents are solely responsible for you being here.

My parents aren't responsible for them being here or human existence. They were thankful to God as well for their lives.

So I see we can add biology to the list of things you don't understand. Got it.

Be very clear - I'm not asking anything that implies that you are not welcome to post here to your little heart's content, but I'm a little confusedJunebug; why are you still posting here? There are hundreds of places online where you and your SPAG would be welcome additions and you would find the acceptance of your ideas that you are seeking. You've repeatedly stated that you are finished with us, yet here you are again. You think we're mean, and closed-minded, insulting and unkind to you and others like you - so what's the appeal?

I'm trying to decide how seriously to take you given all that and assuming that this post isn't a random incidence and that you intend to remain an active member. If you are just looking for an argument, you would do well to step up your game - this one is too much like kicking a puppy. The lens through which you view the world is very small indeed.

Hey Jag,

I have my reasons. I'm here to stay. I find this forum enlightening. You guys ask me things I don't think to ask myself. I learn here. Not what you want me to but what I need. I'm thankful for WWGHA.

I sure don't see how you got there from here. It saved my life which should carry a little value to you if you care about your fellow man. I could've turned to drugs and alcohol like a lot of people do. Everyone is Important, me included. For you to say otherwise is just callous.

I don't hog prayers I hardly ever pray for myself. I pray more for you than I do me. I did cry out to God when I couldn't take anymore and I got the comfort I needed.

I think what Graybeard is implying is that perhaps one of the reasons god doesn't feed starving children is that he/she/it simply doesn't have the time or resources dedicated to the task, and that the effort that god needed to exert to comfort you and the effort that god needs to exert to acknowledge your thanks is effort taken away from him/her/it to alleviate other suffering such as starving children, people being raped, people being crushed by falling buildings due to earthquakes, children being deprived basic care because some parent has grossly misunderstood him/her/it, etc.

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"When we landed on the moon, that was the point where god should have come up and said 'hello'. Because if you invent some creatures, put them on the blue one and they make it to the grey one, you f**king turn up and say 'well done'."